Feeling tired, irritable or stressed out? Try nature. This harmless prescription has been shown to relieve the crippling symptoms of modern life — indifference, cynicism, narcissism, even murderous rage — and is healthy for people of all ages and even pets. Side effects may include authenticity, confidence, spontaneous euphoria or being in a good mood for no apparent reason.
Morocco has some terrific surf breaks, but for most local Muslim women these waves are off limits. Not so for Oumaima Erhali, a 17 year old determined to partake in the sport she loves.
Freedom, exploration and the universal bond forged by the game of football (that’s soccer to you Americans). Bounce — This is Not a Freestyle Movie is a playful short film that takes viewers on a trip around the world — to beaches, ski slopes, museums, deserts, bustling cities, rug markets, music festivals and deserted alleys — with one man and his soccer ball.
“More people watched the last soccer World Cup than have ever belonged to any religion,” observes author Tom Chatfield, one of a dozen or so scholars who appear in Bounce to consider the meanings of perhaps the most ancient man-made artifact that remains ubiquitous in the 21st century.
Director Jerome Thélia elicits startling insights as he asks anthropologists, psychiatrists, historians, evolutionary biologists, sports commentators and even a juggler what it is that gives the ball its universal appeal.
Bounce ranges widely — across academic disciplines, from diverse human cultures to animal specie and from prehistory to the modern era — to demonstrate how balls inspire play and how play is a cornerstone of intelligent life. This film shimmers with technical brilliance equal to its curiosity and intellectual breadth.